There is a proliferation of mainstream PC games that support voice communications. Team chat communication applications are used such as Ventrilo®. These communication applications are being used on networked computers, utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology. PC game players typically utilize PC headsets to communicate via the internet and the earphones help to immerse themselves in the game experience.
When gamers need to communicate with team partners or taunt their competitors, they typically use headsets with close talking boom microphones, for example as shown in FIG. 7. The boom microphone may have a noise cancellation microphone, so their voice is heard clearly and any annoying background noise is cancelled. In order for these types of microphones to operate properly, they need to be placed approximately one inch in front of the user's lips.
Gamers are, however, known to play for many hours without getting up from their computer terminal. During prolonged game sessions, the gamers like to eat and drink while playing for these long periods of time. If the gamer is not communicating via VoIP, he may move the boom microphone with his hand into an upright position to move it away from in front of his face. If the gamer wants to eat or drink, he would also need to use one hand to move the close talking microphone from in front of his mouth. Therefore if the gamer wants to be unencumbered from constantly moving the annoying close talking boom microphone and not to take his hands away from the critical game control devices, an alternative microphone solution would be desirable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a high fidelity far field noise canceling microphone that possesses good background noise cancellation and that can be used in any type of noisy environment, especially in environments where a lot of music and speech may be present as background noise (as in a game arena or internet cafe), and a microphone that does not need the user to have to deal with positioning the microphone from time to time.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.